Evaluating distance education of a mindfulness-based meditation programme for chronic pain management
Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare March 1, 2008 Jacqueline Gardner-Nix, Stéphanie Backman, Julianna Barbati et al.
A Mindfulness-Based Chronic Pain Management course delivered via videoconferencing to patients at rural hospitals was compared with in-person delivery and a waitlist control. Both delivery modes produced similar improvements in mental health and pain catastrophizing relative to controls. However, the in-person group showed significantly better physical quality of life and lower usual pain ratings than the videoconference group. The findings suggest videoconferencing is an effective alternative for reaching chronic pain patients in rural areas.